you put up walls and paint them all a shade of gray

[unforgivably]

Who: Damon Salvatore, Caroline Forbes and Katherine Pierce separately
Where: Caroline's house; Damon, Stefan's, and Katherine's
When: The night of the 1st and the next morning
What: Reeling, Damon pays another new arrival his very own visit, before tucking his tail between his legs and returning "home."
Warnings: As always, Damon is his own walking warning.

and you come away with a great little story ..

[ Misery loves company. It's the old adage Damon's abided by in the past, but instead of finding some unsuspecting victim, sleeping with the wrong girl, or generally setting fire to his life, he chooses the dark reaches of his and Stefan's office. and his memories, both fabricated and real. He would rage against the machine, were there something corporeal to rage against, and Stefan beat him to defacing their camera with grease.

It's a call from Stefan which alters his plan, instead, taking the bottle to another house, the address familiar enough that he hoofs it on foot, as if he has all his life? The war inside him isn't something he can discuss around cameras, not according to the rules. But, he plans on a little known tactic should Caroline want to discuss what's really going on. Damon can do either, really, he's spoken in half truths for weeks now. It's something he's gotten very good at

He gets the gist from Stefan, Caroline's memory is situated squarely on Stefan, it sounds like, and what's really surprising about that? Without Caroline knowing, they both lost out on one of their best friends (his, definitely, not including Bonnie) and he feels like sharing. He's trying healthier coping methods. When you burn your girlfriend's body in her coffin, there really is nowhere to go but up. (It wasn't her, but he spent weeks thinking it was.)

He also owes it to Elena (and Stefan) to check in on Caroline. She may not know it, but she just gave birth. That's taxing for a human, throw in twin siphons and she must be uncharacteristically exhausted. He makes sure to grab something else for his back pocket, something that he knows she'll need, anyway, once the booze runs out.

God, he hopes she has booze. ]

.. and I stood there loving you and wished them all away

Any desire to see things through with Katherine is quashed when that memory crops up, memory of a high school he's never attended with a girl who's well past eighteen. The last thing he needs is a conflicting memory hazing over what conflicting feelings he already has about Katherine here. Stefan can take care of her, answer questions and help her to the sheriff's should she need it. With the guilt over Elena he'd been carrying around this tips him over the edge into 'can't do it' territory which pushes him back to the bottle.

His brief foray into a strange mixture of guilt and misplaced hatred ends early thanks to Stefan's call.

He doesn't go back to his and Stefan's (and apparently, Katherine's, of course she lives there, too, maybe she's a co-owner of their auto body shop) until the morning.

If there's one thing he needs to do, it's separate the two in his mind. This scared, confused and attacked Katherine he and Stefan encountered and unmasked is a far cry from the manipulative, self-serving serpent they know and loathe. So, while he hadn't overstepped with his sun behind the curtain act, he knew it'd stung and confused her further. It was cruel to leave her alone after that, but he figures Stefan probably explained in even the barest of terms. In truth, he thought he'd fully dealt with what Katherine had done to Elena. The rocky patch in their relationship smoothed over, despite her several month joyride and gift she'd left them in the form of Dr. Wes Maxwell's vampire-feeding serum. It's no surprise this still chafes, that even now Katherine gets the last laugh because she doesn't know who she is.

He fights with himself, debating whether talking to her before these two weeks is up is worth it. She'll remember who she is, and how she's a vampire again (maybe because she'd died when in Elena's body, and a vampire), and maybe she'll apologize and claim insanity, or the deep, ceded love of his brother. For now, the girl in Stefan's bed (Stefan's a gentleman, he gave her his bedroom, he knows this) isn't the girl who stole someone's body, or their life.

Not deliberately this time.

He knows he also needs to go home. Caroline isn't his friend, not really, though he wonders if this may have forged something uncharted between the two of them. Exigent circumstances not unlike being cooped up with Bonnie for months on end developing true affection for her.

With nothing else in hand but another bottle of bourbon he acquired early in the morning, what he has in his possession can't be bought. If Katherine wants, he'll share a memory of her. Yes, as an excuse for, this is why he reacted as strongly as he did, but also to give her even a piece to the puzzle that is Katherine Pierce. If only he and Stefan had had the knowledge, or the opportunity.

Turning the key in the lock of his front door, he steps into the house, setting down the booze to lean over and start to unlace his boot. Halfway through he stops and stands up again.

"Not doing that," he says, shaking his head, having never been a person to just take his shoes off when coming inside. He's not that polite guy. But, he does roll his eyes moving further into the house and kicking one off by the couch, moving for his second because he wouldn't be even, all the while keeping an eye out for Kathlena. ]

Comments

[coy]

[ She scoots over to wordlessly give him permission to take a seat next to her. There's some kind of tinge that actually hits her when she thinks about sitting next to him. He's... he's important to her two best friends. That's what her brain tells her, reminds her. Although for some reason, she doesn't feel the same affinity for him that she thought she should, for someone she's known her whole life.]

Right. [ She glances around as if she might see a camera but knowing that she won't. It seems paranoid. All of it.]

[unforgivably]

[ Funny how that works, Caroline.

He takes a seat, knowing when she does get her memory back his politeness will strike a cord of sorts, it might even surprise her. Or, not. Who knows. He's had a rough few months. But, so had she. ] I don't suppose the names 'Elena' or 'Katherine' mean anything to you? [ One thing at a time. No reason to scare her or startle her. ] Did Stefan share how we've been holding our - well, let's call it discussing the good old days.

[coy]

Elena, yes. Katherine, no. Stefan already asked me. [ It doesn't ring a bell to her, at least not in the way that Stefan seemed to think it should.]

I don't know what you're talking about, [ she looks at him curiously, confused.] To be honest, this whole speaking in code is driving me insane.

[unforgivably]

It does have diminishing returns. [ He sets the bottle down next to him, settling back against the porch swing before offering his hand, palm up. ] You have no idea how ironic this is without any context whatsoever, but, you can trust me, Caroline.

[coy]

[ It's utterly frustrating considering it feels like he's telling a story she's never heard before in a language she barely understands. Her eyes look from his face to his hand, her brow furrowing as she realizes that he wants her to take his hand. The same voice that had told her earlier that she should find her ring, put it on as soon as possible, tells her now that she doesn't want to take his hand, like, ever.

But no matter what she remembers, Caroline Forbes is still stubborn. And she moves to slowly put her hand in his.]

[unforgivably]

[ Her hand reaches his and they're in the Forbes foyer, a joint effort in shaking loose any lingering memories and a safe haven of sorts from their faceless overlords.

Here, he lets go of her hand. ] Welcome to your childhood home, Caroline Forbes.

[coy]

[ There's a reflex to let go of his hand immediately, as soon as she's suddenly... somewhere else. And he does it for her, in the end, releasing his hold as they stand in a place that's... well, it feels familiar. Like a distant memory from years and years ago.]

This isn't... [ Except she can't call him a liar because there's something in her heart that tells her that he's right. That it's true.]

I don't understand.

[unforgivably]

It's simple. We're not from here. We don't live here. And all those memories creeping in with these people we've supposedly met aren't real. Can't be real. [ For several reasons. ] Every camera, every sign forces us to live that life out there, a life where Stefan and I are the local mechanics and I went to therapy. Me. [ Also something that Caroline won't glean, but he's still making the point. ]

You're the first one of us who has some kind of tangible connection here. [ And he's talking about ] I hear you gained a brother of your very own.

[ Sorry, Caroline. Stefan tells Damon almost everything. You'll grow to be okay with it. ]

[coy]

[ Later Caroline will wonder if there's some kind of weakness within her that made her fall for this whole ruse so easily, if there's a gullibility or perhaps just her propensity for denial that contributed to all of it feeling so real... For now, she's grappling with what he's telling her as much as she struggled to accept what Stefan had told her.

And yet, Stefan had been right and something told her that Damon wasn't exactly the kind of person to make this kind of thing up. ] Steeb-- Steve is my... [ There's something about standing in this house, in this place, that gives her pause again. That voice, it's back and it's telling her that Steve isn't really her brother. She looks to her right and she doesn't see him there in the framed photograph of her and her mother.

She goes to pick it up. It's her mother.] My mom. This is my mom. And this is... Mystic Falls.

[unforgivably]

This is Mystic Falls. Your mother was the sheriff, and one of the best friends I've ever had. [ It's genuine sincerity he's always given her, regarding her mother. He's always had a fondness for her and they struck up a true friendship that barely ever wavered. He looked up to Caroline's mother, and he respected her. She stood for her daughter when it counted and loved her despite what she became. ]

Whatever's happening, this place wants us to denounce everything that we've ever known. If they had their way, our minds would probably be wiped out completely. They did this once last month with Stefan and me and a handful of other people, but we all got our memories back eventually. We're hoping you do, too.

[coy]

[ Caroline's hand trembles for a moment before she hastily sets the picture frame down, her mind is battling itself. There are memories that feel so real like Steve teaching her how to ride a bike when she'd been too scared to take off the training wheels, only then Steve is replaced with her mother and the memory feels even more real. Stefan meeting her for coffee and looking at her in a way that she knew wasn't right but she basked in it nonetheless. And then it's Stefan's heart being ripped from his chest, literally. There are more, so many that morph into something else, most of the time twisted and awful.

A tear slips down.]

How is this... real? How can this be happening? Is it a spell?

[unforgivably]

We don't know. It could be. But, it's a powerful one if we're all here. [ And a vivid one. ] We think it might be Rayna Cruz, or a group field trip into the Phoenix Stone, now new and improved with 90's nostalgia, because I've been itching for that again.

[ But, he lets her have this time. ]

The first time around Stefan and I didn't know who we were, much less what we could do. I can replay any memory you like - barring me not being there. [ Because, how could he recreate that. Maybe he could, like, wing it... ]

There's one more - thing.

[coy]

[ One thing she remembers and knows to be true is that magic is real. And that's something she feels deep down. Of course, as he goes on she looks confused again and feeling like a broken record when she says: ] I don't know what you're talking about. [ She doesn't know who Rayna Cruz is or what a phoenix stone is.]

First time around? What do you mean? Damon, [ she signs his name in an exacerbated way, which should be quite familiar.] Just come out with it. I'm suffering from a head injury or something like it so I can't deal with your usual brand of-- [ she stops, turning to look at him because well, the annoyance she feels towards him? The frustration? That is vividly familiar.]

I am remembering that you annoy me a lot. Is that right?

[unforgivably]

Depends on the day.

[ That's right. ]

I mean that you and everyone else weren't their test cases. Stefan, me, and a hospital full of poor drivers woke up just like you last month.

[coy]

You've been here a month? [ That seems...] Wouldn't have I noticed you were gone? I feel like I would have noticed...

[unforgivably]

You may have had your hands full. [ The cagiest of cages. She did just give birth to siphon Gemini twins. ] Which brings me back around to something completely different but still important since you're here now. The vampire who turned you is here now, too. Katherine. I might've mentioned her.

[coy]

[ Except, she hadn't.

When he speaks again, there's a flash of something and she lets out a breath, her hand lifting to her throat because it felt as though she was being suffocated. ] Katherine turned me...? [ The face that flashes before her eyes is Elena's.]

She turned me... why? Why did she turn me?

[unforgivably]

As a pawn in a very long, guarded game of hide and seek. [ An interesting question as any. ] And, yes, she too has forgotten almost everything. It's all very un-Katherine like. [ And super upsetting in so many ways. ] If you remember what Elena looks like, picture Elena with curlier hair - except when she straightens it and impersonates Elena. Or possesses her.

[coy]

[ Caroline finds herself sitting on the bottom step of the staircase, her eyes closing for a moment as she tries to process all of this. For as bad as he is at explaining things, none of it feels like too much to understand. It's something she already knows she just can't... remember. It's not unfathomable. It's there, somewhere.

She looks at him, after a moment.] So what are we going to do? [ Somehow that seems like the easier question to ask.]

[unforgivably]

So far, we've played along. With the town, not Katherine. Like this, Katherine wouldn't hurt a fly. [ Which is ... something. ] If this month is like last month, give it about two weeks and we'll be able to revisit this. You'll be caught up, with your boyfriend, and we'll all sit down and decide on just that.

[coy]

What do you mean, 'like this'? [ Again, Damon is talking to her like she's been here since there beginning, that she can read his mind or has any idea what he's talking about... It needles at her and somehow that feels familiar too. However, she does pause at what he's saying--] My boyfriend? Damon, please. You're driving me crazy. I don't understand.

[unforgivably]

I mean that, she barely remembers who she is, had no idea what she was and we all thought she was Elena when she first got here. That's how un-Katherine-like she is. She apologized to me. [ Again, no significance to Caroline. ] Katherine Pierce doesn't apologize. [ But this one does. ]

You. Stefan. [ A beat. ] When two vampires like each other very much...

[coy]

She doesn't remember? Still? [ She looks a little concerned, mostly because she's under the impression that Katherine has been here as long as the Salvatores.]

No, we don't. [ She says that with certainty. There's not a voice that tells her otherwise. They are friends. She and Stefan are just friends. It's not at thing. It's not. The denial is strong with this one, blacked out memory or not. ] He's with... Elena. [ Isn't he? Or is he? Is that here or wherever they're supposed to be? Or is this another falsehood planted in her brain?]

[unforgivably]

I haven't checked, but I'm playing the, I'm going to avoid you, game. She's at the house, the house she was told is also hers. I want a new landlord. [ Maybe that makes it clear that she just arrived.

He can't help but puzzle at that, not throw a quip back right away, but try and get to the root of wherever that came from. ] Actually, he's with you. And nobody's with Elena, not technically, though we are getting married in fifty to sixty years. Maybe seventy. [ He's reminded of his last decision he'd made before coming here, and a letter he wanted to write but never managed. Because, Pines. ] Stefan was with Elena. Years ago. They barely made it past high school.

[ He's not trying to be disparaging, not really. ]

I would play you some of your greatest hits, but I'd have to have been there.

[coy]

You're letting her stay with you? [ Excuse moi? That seems unacceptable to Caroline and she can't even really get the reasons why.

However, Damon's insistence that she and Stefan are a thing is still complete nonsense.] No... It's Elena, it's always been Elena. [ Caroline's insecurities, they are stronger than any false memory. And at her point and time, that's still one she grapples with, no matter what hints she's starting to feel from Stefan.] He didn't act otherwise when I was with him so... [ There. And at his offer, she groans--] No thanks, not yet. My head feels like it's about to split open.